Up to half of States office staff are working from home

When lockdown came into force, many office-based staff across key States sites – excluding some of those who were considered ‘essential workers’ – worked from home.

The States of Guernsey accelerated the roll-out of digital solutions to enable remote working.

Since the beginning of phase 5, the States has sought to maintain some of the benefits of this ‘smarter, more flexible way of working’.

This is partly to support employees and teams who feel they benefit from it and partly to maintain resilience should Guernsey experience a second wave of the virus, as has happened in other jurisdictions.

‘It also supports the underlying aims of the public sector’s modernisation programme, with part of public service reform focused on using digital solutions and using office space as efficiently as possible without compromising the quality of services,’ a spokesperson for the States of Guernsey said.

Different teams, including seven within Sir Charles Frossard House, are trialling different ways of accommodating more remote working by introducing rotational work systems or ‘hot-desking’.

For some individuals there is a preference to work from home, for others they prefer to be office-based or across different sites and some would rather a combination of both.

Ensuring any new arrangements can support their health and wellbeing; their ability to work and perform effectively and to maintain a good work-life balance are central to any long-term decisions in how the States continues with some form of working from different locations.

‘The health and wellbeing of employees was also a key factor in determining which employees were the first to return to office-based working, following the end of lockdown,’ they added.

‘Engagement with employees is ongoing to learn what has gone well and what hasn’t.’

As the numbers working from their office varies from day to day it is not possible to give a precise number for how many are office-based currently, but roughly, it is around a half to two-thirds of employees on any given day.

It was ‘unlikely’ many if any businesses were relying specifically on Sir Charles Frossard House, added the spokesperson, to the extent that increased home-working will have an overriding impact, given some employees were again working from their office.